TABtouch Team of Round 17Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - 6:05 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO and East Perth recorded heart-stopping Round 17 WAFL victories with West Perth and Swan Districts recording important wins too with a host of standout out individual performances right across the league.

It was an important round of WAFL action and Claremont took it up to Subiaco the most any team has in 2018, but ultimately the Tigers came up short and it could cost them a finals berth while the Royals replaced them in the top five with an after the siren goal.

West Perth also shook off a horror week off-field to further consolidate second spot while Swan Districts snapped its losing run to keep its finals hopes alive.

All four matches took place on Saturday afternoon starting with East Perth beating Perth 12.11 (83) to 11.14 (80) at Leederville Oval on the back of Kyle Anderson kicking the winning goal after the siren for the Royals.

The other thriller took place at Claremont Oval with Subiaco delivering a strong start to the final quarter to come from behind and beat Claremont 16.3 (99) to 14.12 (96).

West Perth was once again led by its brilliant midfield of Shane Nelson, Aaron Black, Luke Meadows and Trent Manzone to overcome Danyle Pearce and Harley Bennell, coming from behind all day with a big last quarter to win 16.11 (107) to 11.10 (76).

East Fremantle and Swan Districts then both took six-game losing streaks into their clash at East Fremantle Oval but Swans proved too strong winning 18.5 (113) to 12.7 (79).

Following 17 rounds of the 2018 season, Subiaco (14-0) remains clear on top of the ladder and is guaranteed of the minor premiership.

West Perth (10-5) remains second and has the chance this Saturday to all but lock away that position against the second placed South Fremantle (9-5) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Perth (7-8) remains fourth despite Saturday's heartbreaking loss with East Perth (6-8) moving into fifth position.

Claremont (6-9) is then sixth ahead of Swan Districts (6-9), Peel Thunder (6-9) and East Fremantle (2-13).

M & J CHICKENS PLAYER OF THE ROUND - PATRICK ITALIANO

TABtouch TEAM OF THE ROUND (times named)
BACK: Jayden Schofield (5), Kyle Anderson (1), Dylan Smallwood (1)
HALF-BACK: Blake Wilhelm (5), Declan Hardisty (2), Michael Sinclair (8)
CENTRE: Chris Phelan (8), Jesse Turner (2), Aaron Black (7)
HALF-FORWARD: Corey Byrne (1), Matthew Allen (2), George Hampson (6)
FORWARD: Andrew Strijk (9), Cameron Loersch (2), Patrick Italiano (1)
RUCK: Nathan Blakely (2), Shane Nelson (10), Patrick McGinnity (3) 
INTERCHANGE: Will Maginness (3), Leigh Kitchin (4), Luke Meadows (4), Danyle Pearce (6)

BACK POCKET – JAYDEN SCHOFIELD (East Fremantle)
He has had a couple of hiccups in 2018 through suspension but when he is on the field East Fremantle looks a vastly improved team with the attack and run he can provide out of the back-line. Coming off a fairest and best winning 2017, he continues to lead during tough times and had another 32 possessions and 13 marks in Saturday's loss to Swan Districts.

FULL-BACK – KYLE ANDERSON (East Perth)
The East Perth co-captain was the hero kicking the winning goal after the siren against Perth on Saturday to return the Royals to fifth position on the WAFL ladder. But prior to that he had put together a strong performance in his usual role as a key defender and was opposed to Spencer White most of the afternoon, holding him to just five kicks and two goals.

BACK POCKET – DYLAN SMALLWOOD (Claremont)
The seven-game young defender has had a tremendous impact already in his budding WAFL career. He burst onto the scene with 23 possessions on debut in Round 10 against Swan Districts and has remained in the league side since. He was given the big job on Subiaco's Ben Sokol on Saturday and held him to just three kicks and two goals while having 10 possessions and four marks himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – BLAKE WILHELM (West Perth)
His breakout season continued with another tremendous showing providing run and drive off half-back for West Perth in a win against Peel Thunder that further consolidated the Falcons in second position on the WAFL ladder. He is proving one of the best players in the competition coming out of the back-line and had another 26 possessions and 13 marks.

CENTRE HALF-BACK – DECLAN HARDISTY (Claremont)
While Anton Hamp was the experienced piece holding Claremont's back-line together, he continued his emergence in just his 12th league appearance since making his debut in Round 5. Spent much of the game on Subiaco's leading goal kicker Brad Stevenson holding him to just four kicks and one goal while having 10 possessions himself.

HALF-BACK FLANK – MICHAEL SINCLAIR (Perth)
He continues to be a standout performer in defence for Perth and once again stood firm while the Demons were under siege on Saturday, and was then instrumental in their stirring last quarter fight back that only didn’t succeed due to an East Perth goal after the siren. He delivered another 31 possessions, 10 marks, five inside-50 entries and three marks.

CENTRE – JESSE TURNER (Swan Districts)
It was a Swan Districts midfield missing Matt Riggio, David Ellard and Adam Faulkner, but he stood tall once more in his career-best run of form. The 57-game on-baller has developed his all-round game nicely now and in Saturday's season-saving win over East Fremantle, he had 29 possessions, eight tackles, four inside-50 entries and three marks.

WING – CHRIS PHELAN (Subiaco)
The 163-game dual premiership-winning, two-time fairest and best recipient just keeps delivering for Subiaco and was once more instrumental in Saturday's narrow win for the Lions over Claremont to continue their undefeated 2018 season. He finished with 31 possessions, five inside-50 entries and four tackles.

WING – AARON BLACK (West Perth)
The West Perth captain is in a rare purple patch of form right now combining his powers to the perfect combination to be equally effective as an inside and outside midfielder for the second placed Falcons. Considering he's a Sandover Medallist, fairest and best winner, premiership player and five-time state representative, it's a big call to say he's in career-best form but he could very well be after another 35 possessions, 13 marks, 11 tackles and three inside-50 entries in Saturday's win against Peel.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – COREY BYRNE (Perth)
Perth's midfield made up of Clint Jones, Brant Colledge, Corey Yeo and Cody Leggett has been a huge part in them currently sitting in second position on the ladder even after Saturday's loss to East Perth, but he is the young, emerging member of the group who deserves enormous credit too. He was outstanding against the Royals ending the afternoon with three goals to go with 26 possessions, six inside-50 entries and four marks.

CENTRE HALF-FORWARD – MATTHEW ALLEN (East Perth)
He is clearly having the best and most consistent season of his career since being drafted by West Coast now that his body is allowing him to have a good run at it. While he has been forced to play down back at times and has done that well, he is a natural forward with the way he can mark strongly, kick well on his left-boot and read the ball coming into the forward-line. Could comfortably become a handy AFL forward with the opportunity and had 26 possessions, five marks and a goal in Saturday's win against Perth.

HALF-FORWARD FLANK – GEORGE HAMPSON (East Fremantle)
East Fremantle might be anchored to the bottom of the ladder and may have lost a seventh straight match on Saturday at the expense of Swan Districts, but he produced yet another stunning performance in a standout season. He finished the afternoon with 33 disposals, 11 marks, eight tackles and two goals.

FORWARD POCKET – ANDREW STRIJK (West Perth)
It has proven to be quite the master stroke from coach Bill Monaghan to move him to play permanently deep forward especially considering the impact he could still be having further up the ground. But he is just proving the best one-on-one forward in the game right now and kicked another four goals from 16 possessions and eight marks in Saturday's win over Peel Thunder.

FULL-FORWARD – CAMERON LOERSCH (East Fremantle)
It's been quite the drought for East Fremantle for having a key forward target who could stand tall, take big contested marks and kick bags of goals. He might not have debuted until Round 6 this year since returning to WA from the Gold Coast Suns, but he has now already kicked 21 goals in seven WAFL matches including six majors from 12 kicks and 10 marks against Swan Districts.

FORWARD POCKET – PATRICK ITALIANO (Swan Districts)
In just the second game of his WAFL career, he produced such a standout performance where not only was he instrumental in the important win over East Fremantle as well as earning the honour of being named M & J Chickens Player of the Round. He finished the contest at East Fremantle Oval with three goals to go with 25 possessions, four marks and three inside-50 entries.

RUCK – NATHAN BLAKELY (Swan Districts)
He has had a terrific return to WAFL football after a two-year absence in 2018 and his presence in the ruck is allowing Swan Districts to remain a much more versatile team with the ability of playing Tony Notte and Corey Gault at either end of the ground. He had a big say in Saturday's win against East Fremantle with 25 possessions, 23 hit outs and a goal.

RUCK ROVER – SHANE NELSON (West Perth)
His incredible season in the West Perth midfield continued in Saturday's win against Peel and it's all the more remarkable when you consider that his performance was just playing to his season averages. The brilliant on-baller, contested ball machine and clearance monster was tremendous once more in a crucial win with 37 possessions and seven tackles.

ROVER – PATRICK MCGINNITY (East Perth)
The East Perth co-captain wasn’t ready to see his team's finals hopes for 2018 fadeaway and took the challenge right up to the strong and deep Perth on-ball department. He delivered just about a best on ground performance in the crucial win for the Royals ending the afternoon with 28 possessions, seven inside-50 entries and six tackles.

INTERCHANGE – WILL MAGINNESS (East Perth)
When healthy, he is among the smoothest moving and most efficient players in the WAFL and once again he showed his value to East Perth in Saturday's heart stopping win against Perth at Leederville Oval. He kicked three goals to go with 18 possessions, six marks and five inside-50 entries.

INTERCHANGE – LEIGH KITCHIN (Subiaco)
In a midfield featuring Kyal Horsley, Chris Phelan and Josh Deluca, it's not always easy to standout but he has quietly gone about delivering another outstanding season on the ball for the undefeated Subiaco. Was again prominent in the three-point win against Claremont with 31 possessions, seven inside 50s, three tackles and a goal. 

INTERCHANGE – LUKE MEADOWS (West Perth)
With fellow midfielders Shane Nelson and Aaron Black dominating, he might not quite be receiving the full accolades for the standout season he's having. But he is every bit as instrumental in West Perth sitting in second position as anyone with the big-bodied and strong kicking midfielder tremendous again against Peel with another 28 possessions, five marks, four tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

INTERCHANGE – DANYLE PEARCE (Peel Thunder)
The 258-game AFL veteran who has played in Grand Finals for both Port Adelaide and Fremantle could easily have dropped his head at continuing to play in the WAFL and knowing he will be departing the Dockers at the end of 2018. But he continues to work hard and contribute strongly with another 34 possessions, seven inside 50s, four marks and a goal in Saturday's loss for Peel to West Perth.

UNLUCKY BUNCH
There were plenty of players who delivered tremendous performances across Round 17 but couldn’t quite fit into the Team of the Round, including:

Claremont's Oliver Eastland, Kaiden Gilbert, Ian Richardson, Jack Beeck, Jye Bolton and Jared Hardisty.

Subiaco's Zac Clarke, Lachlan Delahunty, Kyal Horsley, Josh Deluca and Rowen Powell.

West Perth's Trent Manzone, Nathan Alexandre, Tyler Keitel and Keegan Knott.

Peel Thunder's Mitch Crowden, Brady Grey, Ben Howlett, Harley Bennell, Matt Taberner and Ethan Hughes.

East Fremantle's Dion Anthony, Cameron Eardley and Matthew Jupp.

Swan Districts' Steven Payne, Rhys Palmer, Kirk Ugle and Tobe Watson.

East Perth's Nathan Blee, Mitch Dobson and Fraser McInnes.

Perth's Brant Colledge, Clint Jones and Laine Wilkins.